Finding Selfness in Postcolonial Caribbean Short Fiction: Intersectional Feminism and Diasporic Displacement in the Work of Jamaica Kincaid and Nalo Hopkinson Ibtissam Ouaali, 3778428 Universiteit Utrecht BA English Literature and Culture Supervisor: Dr. Roselinde Supheert Second Reader: Dr. Christine Quinan List of Contents Introduction p. 3 Chapter 1. p. 7 Discourses of Marginalization: Intersectional Feminism and Diasporic Displacement Chapter 2. p. 13 Domestication and Domination in Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” Chapter 3. p. 23 A Sense of Belonging and Selfhood in Nalo Hopkinson’s “A Habit of Waste” Conclusion p. 33 Works Cited p. 36 2 Introduction Literature can be an excellent medium for challenging dominant discourses that underlie societal structures and attitudes. The short story in particular can offer extensive value because its flexibility and oral roots can be powerful means of communication through which dominant discourses can be addressed. Although short stories may have different themes it is interesting to see how short fiction can function as powerful discourses of resistance. In this light, Jamaica Kincaid and Nalo Hopkinson make use of the short story to address notions of female identity, race and discrimination in the postcolonial context. These authors lend themselves to intersectional analyses of race and gender because they incorporate the complexities that come with identity-formation, especially in cases of demarginalization. Both authors are originally from the Caribbean and have moved to the West. It is essential to focus on the implications of their diasporic background in their work. The aftermath of colonialism and imperialistic values can have a paralyzing effect on the self, especially if one is perceived as the other. Bearing this in mind, the authors’ personal and cultural history is addressed in their work, which offers a platform for the suppressed other to speak up. The suppressed other in these stories is the Caribbean woman. Kincaid and Hopkinson make the patriarchal and neo-colonial restrictions on the female black self palpable in their work, and their stories can therefore be seen as postcolonial projects in which fiction and history are actively intersected. Forming a concept of self can be a complicated process, which is influenced by different power structures and discourses. In this context, concepts that come to mind are intersectional feminism, diaspora, hybrid identity and the concept of home and displacement. Self-perception can be influenced by these aforementioned concepts. Kincaid and Hopkinson, whether intentionally or not, have made use of these postcolonial theoretical concepts in their stories “Girl” and “A Habit of Waste,” respectively. The strength of both 3 short stories lies in the reworking of postcolonial concepts that challenge the dominant discourses on female identity and being. The short story in general has an oral history in folk culture, which can raise issues of national memory and politics of identity. As Maggie Awadalla and Paul March-Russell argue: In the postcolonial short story, orality could be seen as evidence of cultural survival, acting as one of the contrary means by which the onslaught of colonization and the eradication of indigenous cultures are challenged. […] The short story thrives in transnational societies, whose foundations are not yet established, so that the voices of submerged populations have an opportunity in which to be heard. (4-6) Both “Girl” and “A Habit of Waste” can be seen as powerful analyses of the intersectional forces of class, gender and race that underlie oppressive social relations. It is interesting to see what the influence is of patriarchal and racist beliefs on the identities of the female protagonists in the short stories. “Girl” was published twenty-three years before “A Habit of Waste,” and therefore the stories are different in their approach to these themes. The time gap between the stories has influenced their reworking of gender and race constraints on the concept of self. “Girl” tackles patriarchal conventions of female sexuality and agency in an Antiguan environment, whereas “A Habit of Waste” explores the effects of diasporic displacement on a Canadian woman with Caribbean heritage. It is important to keep in mind that the postcolonial concepts that will be discussed do not necessarily apply to all Caribbean women. Yet, it is interesting to analyze the power of the short story in battling oppressive structures and neo-colonial discourses. It is crucial to emphasize that “Girl” and “A Habit of Waste” cannot be seen as representative for the whole of postcolonial Caribbean literature. Especially because Kincaid and Hopkinson are from two different countries and the two stories are set in different timeframes and places. Moreover, two short stories can never grasp the implications of 4 colonialism and patriarchal beliefs on Caribbean women in both the Caribbean and the West; fiction may not be a reliable medium for neo-colonial structures and its implications for colored women. Nevertheless, both stories challenge the dominant neo-colonial discourses that can negatively influence a Caribbean woman. The stories show the pervasive effect of these power structures on the sense of selfhood and individuality of two Caribbean protagonists, respectively in the Caribbean and in Canada. Therefore, “Girl” and “A Habit of Waste” can be seen as discourses of resistance because they shed light on the voice of the suppressed female other by intersecting the influences of racial and gendered constraints on the concept of self. Focusing on discourses of marginalization the first chapter will offer an insight into the theory of intersectionality, developed by Kimberlé Crenshaw, and into the concepts of diaspora, displacement and home, using the work of John McLeod and Avtar Brah. The second chapter will delve into Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl,” which will be analyzed focusing on female domestication and (post-)colonial1 domination. Lastly, Nalo Hopkinson’s “A Habit of Waste” works with diasporic notions of displacement and home to challenge dominant discourses and fixed notions of belonging. Both stories show how marginalizing discourses can have an influence on the concept of self, focusing on women of color who are still affected by the colonial past of their mother countries. With their work Kincaid and Hopkinson are trying to link reality to fiction to comment on not only the present but also the past. Their work conveys a clear image of irony and surrealism, which portrays a disintegration of culture and marks the importance of social change. Postcolonialism in itself is meant to challenge people to question their (fixed) notions of the world. These two stories, as postcolonial projects, aid this cause as they tell another story that challenges dominant discourses on race and gender. 1 There is a difference between the words postcolonial and post-colonial. Whereas the first refers to the discourses that challenge neocolonial values and opinions, the latter refers to the literal time that came after colonial independence (McLeod 5-6). 5 Chapter 1. Discourses of Marginalization: Intersectional Feminism and Diasporic Displacement In her work on black feminism and critical race theory Kimberlé Crenshaw emphasizes the importance of intersectionality (“Demarginalizing” and “Mapping”). Crenshaw argues that women of color can be subjected to different intersecting constraints in society. She criticizes the failure of white feminism and anti-racist discourses to unite all these constraints in their struggle against patriarchal and racist elements. Finding selfness is especially difficult when this is simultaneously obstructed by race and gender constraints. Crenshaw points out that marginalization can be enforced through multiple forms human characteristics based on which one might be oppressed by others – such as class, physical abilities, race and gender (“Demarginalizing”). Specifically focusing on race and gender as marginalizing forces for women of color in the United States, Crenshaw states that dominant discourses wrongly uphold the idea that race and gender are “mutually exclusive categories of experience and analysis” (“Demarginalizing” 139). This focus on a single-axis framework in discourses of resistance reinforces the trivialization of people who are afflicted by several marginalizing forces (Crenshaw, “Demarginalizing” 140). White feminist theory and antiracist theory alike failed to recognize the particular forms of injustice that women of color had to deal with. Rejecting this Manichean worldview of seeing feminist theory as opposite to antiracist discourses, Crenshaw argues for new discourses of resistance, which encompass all power structures and forms of discrimination against marginalized subgroups. This is where intersectional feminism can offer a solution to create an inclusive image of complex identity issues and the effects unfair treatment has on identity-formation. Intersectional feminism does not only focus on race and gender. Rather, it also takes into account all other possible forms of oppression, including class discrimination, ableism, and transsexual or queer discrimination. 6 Delving into the concept of intersectionality, Crenshaw distinguishes between three different forms of intersectionality, and once more the focus lies on women of color in the United States. (“Mapping”). It is important to note that there is an overlap between the three forms of intersectionality as they all make use of